Volume PricingCurrent Spot Price: $1,259.51

The coin series that started the Lunar Year craze came from Australia’s Perth Mint. The Mint introduced Lunar Series I in 1996, with the aim of representing each of the animals on the Zodiac over the course of a 12-year period. The eighth coin in the series was the 2003 1 oz Gold Australian Goat coin, available now from Silver.com.

Coin Highlights:

Limited mintage of only 16,775 coins!

Consists of 1 ounce of .9999 fine gold.

Bears a face value of $100 (AUD), backed by the Australian government.

Individual coins ship in plastic capsules.

Available in Brilliant Uncirculated condition through this listing.

Approved for inclusion in Precious Metal IRA portfolios.

Australia was the first nation to produce a popular coin series bearing images of the animals from the Chinese Lunar Calendar. According to ancient Chinese lore, the Jade Emperor awarded each of the 12 animals that answered his call for a meeting their space in the Zodiac based upon their finish in the Great Race. As the animals raced to the meeting, the order in which they arrived determined their position in the Zodiac.

The Perth Mint introduced the coin series in 1996 with the release of the Year of the Mouse coin. The program continued through 2007, with each of the 12 animals eventually featured on the reverse side of a coin. Australia’s coin series proved so popular that other mints around the globe eventually adopted their own Lunar Series designs.

On the reverse side of each coin is the image of a goat standing in the midst of a meadow. With its head up and its eyes focusing on a distant object, the goat is surrounded by engravings that include the year of minting, weight, purity, and metal content of the coin, as well as the Chinese symbol for goat.

The obverse side of the coin bears Ian Rank-Broadley’s image of Queen Elizabeth II. All of the coins in this series were struck at the Perth Mint. If you have any questions about the products in this listing, please don’t hesitate to contact a Silver.com associate. We’re available at 888-989-7223, online through our live web chat, and via email. If you are interested in similar products, check out the Perth Mint’s Gold Lunar Series page on Silver.com.